You and your research ( Richard Hamming) P5

Say to yourself that you would like to do something significant.
Great science is not a matter of luck."Luck favors the prepared mind."
The particular thing you do is luck, but that you do something is not.
"If others would think as hard as I did,  then they would get similar results."
Many people including great scientists had independent thoughts and the courage to pursued them when they were young.
Once you get your courage up and believe you can do important problems, then you can.If you think you can't, almost surely you are not going to.
About age:
Most mathematicians, theoretical physicists, and astrophysicists do what we consider their best work when they are young. On the other hand, in music, politics and literature, often what we consider their best work was done late. The great scientists often make the error. They fail to continue to plant the little acorns from which the might oak trees grow. They try to get the big thing right off. And that isn't the way thinks go.